By ANDRE BAGOO Monday, August 31 2009

click on pic to zoom in

HART'S ACE: This undated photo shows the sailboat 'Ace of Harts' which was sold byUdecott chairman Calder Hart to Genivar president Ali Ettehadieh in ...

OPPOSITION SENATOR Wade Mark yesterday warned that the sale of Udecott chairman Calder Hart’s sailboat the ‘Ace of Harts’ to the Genivar president Ali Ettehadieh in November 2006 raises the issue of a conflict of interest, as he called for a “serious probe” into the transaction.

“There is clearly a conflict of interest that has developed between Genivar and Udecott and particularly the chairman of Udecott,” Mark said yesterday. “When we look at the number of projects or contracts that Genivar has received from Udecott since this transaction in 2006 it is clear to the ordinary and informed observe that there is a question over the relationship between the president of Genivar and Mr Hart.”

Senator Mark first raised the issue of the sailboat transaction in the Senate in October 2008. Since then, as Sunday Newsday yesterday reported, the commissioners in the Uff Commission of Inquiry have begun a probe into the issue, sending a confidential letter to Genivar in May seeking an explanation of the transaction. According to confidential documents filed by lawyers acting on behalf of Genivar in response to the queries, the ‘Ace of Harts’ was sold in November 2006 to Ettehadieh for $870,000.

Genivar has been engaged by Udecott on several of its projects including the $800 million Brian Lara Stadium at Tarouba and the $750 million Chancery Lane project in San Fernando.

Mark yesterday said there is a need for a “serious” examination of the transaction.

“It just calls into question the need for a deeper probe into the relationship between Genivar and Udecott and into whether or not that relationship has had a negative impact on the taxpayers of Trinidad and Tobago,” Mark said. “This calls for a serious probe”. The chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI) Victor Hart yesterday also warned that the transaction raised issues of transparency in public procurement.

“Essentially the problem is one of conflict of interest,” Hart said, noting that Genivar was a Udecott tenderer and contractor.

Word of the probe of the transaction by the Uff commissioners comes as the fourth and final phase of hearings, scheduled to begin on September 7, has been placed in limbo because of a row over the role of one of the commissioners.

Lawyers for Udecott have raised questions over links, if any, between commissioner Kenneth Sirju and contractor NH International (Caribbean) Limited, a party to the proceedings. That issue last week prompted inquiry chairman Professor John Uff to intervene. An emergency meeting of interested parties is scheduled for tomorrow.